Joint Venture Partnership Announcement

Joint Venture Focuses On Development Of Boutique, Luxury Hotel Properties

LOS ANGELES, CA – July 7, 2011 – Bedian International (BI), a global boutique real estate investment banking and advisory firm celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, announced today that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Tailored Hospitality International (THI), an innovative boutique hotel design and management company.

By melding their talents and resources, the two companies can maximize their business opportunities and provide their clients in the boutique and lifestyle hotel market with a one-stop firm that can handle everything from property targeting, acquisition, and financing to design and post-completion operations. The firms are currently involved in two joint projects, one in Los Angeles, Calif., and one in Orlando, Fla.

“We’re very excited to be joining forces with Robert and his team at Tailored Hospitality,” said Gary Bedian, president, CEO, and founder of Bedian International. “The luxury boutique hotel business is an area we’ve wanted to enhance our involvement in for some time and it makes much more sense for us to do that via a strategic partnership than to try to build such a division in-house.”

“And the timing for our partnership couldn’t be better,” Bedian added. “The hospitality and hotel market is rebounding strongly. Occupancy rates and property sale prices are both up year over year. That bodes very well for the future of our partnership and the hotel industry in general.”

The key numbers back up Bedian’s perspective – studies show that the hotel and hospitality business is indeed rebounding, and in a big way. In California, 2010 lodging property sales rose 80.4%, to 166, after an anemic 92 in 2009. Some experts anticipate the 2011 total will reach or surpass 200 transactions. Total sales dollars skyrocketed 240.6% to nearly $1.8 billion, and hotel financing is bouncing back, too, resulting in more construction starts in some markets.

“This partnership makes so much sense in so many ways,” explained Robert Todak, president of Tailored Hospitality. “We each offer tremendous strengths and experience in our areas of expertise, and those elements complement each other wonderfully.”

Under the partnership, BI and THI will seek multiple types of luxury projects, from original property acquisition, design and development to purchasing existing properties for rebranding, repositioning, or turnaround. While both parties will be involved in each new venture, the strategic initiatives will be shared based upon the specific areas of their respective expertise, adding value and efficiency. The result is the creation of a full-service, high-end boutique hotel experience from initial ideation to day-to-day operations well after the doors open.

BI brings two decades of experience spanning the entire spectrum of investment banking and facilitation for commercial real estate and hospitality investments both domestically and overseas, including in the former Soviet Union (CIS), Eastern Europe and the Middle East, with plans to expand to South America. BI will concentrate primarily on working directly with developers and investors securing equity, financing, and providing counsel and asset management for each project.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, BI will also be heavily involved in the assessment and consideration of projects in Southern California and the West Coast.

“We each bring tremendous talents and resources to the table,” said Bedian. “THI has an incredible network of resources in the design and lifestyle business –the best of the best, and we both contribute significant marketing resources that combined will prove to be a critical component to our success.”

True to its name, THI will direct its skills and experience primarily toward establishing fully customized presentation, operations and management components for the property. These services include everything from the design and execution of a property’s décor, culture and style, to its amenities and food and beverage vehicles (both restaurants and bars) to the IT infrastructure and reservation systems.

THI has a wealth of experience in icon hotel management. Todak learned the core business at the renowned Waldorf-Astoria. He shifted to management during the infancy of the modern hotel revolution under the mentorship of the movement’s pioneer, Ian Schrager. Todak’ s work has been associated with numerous distinctive properties including the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, the Tides and Delano luxury hotels in Miami’s South Beach, and the nearby Acqualina Resort, a AAA Five Diamond property. To date, Todak has opened three hotels that have received the coveted Condé Nast Traveller’s “Hot List” award.

Todak’s partner in THI is Keith Space, whose pedigree in boutique hotel management is the equal of Todak’s. He also worked under Schrager’s tutelage before striking out on his own and has consulted and managed hotel and restaurant ventures in several countries with a diverse group of distinguished developers, architects, designers, brokers and hospitality professionals. His experience and expertise have made Space a master in hotel development and operation.

Bedian and Todak were introduced to each other just after the holidays in 2010 by a mutual business colleague associated with the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego. They didn’t meet until several months later on a project both were working on in Orlando, Fla. By that time the two had established a solid rapport and comfort level with each other, both professionally and personally, and decided to cement their plans to work together.

About Bedian International

Bedian International is a boutique real estate investment banking and advisory firm that identifies, negotiates, closes and manages hotel and commercial real estate transactions worldwide. BI provides the full scope of buyer services, including portfolio timing for acquisition and disposition, asset management, investment banking and syndication, and project management. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. For more information visit www.bedian.com.

About Tailored Hospitality International

Tailored Hospitality International (THI) was founded by Keith Space and Robert Todak. Both men’s careers were shaped and mentored by Ian Schrager, the pioneer of the modern hotel movement, and they have over forty-years of combined experience as hotel and hospitality entrepreneurs and pioneers of the modern hospitality revolution. The powerful and uncommonly synergistic collaboration of these two men build dreams and turn them into reality. Integrity, creativity and innate ability to drive bottom line profitability characterize the TBI team. For more information visit www.tailoredhospitality.com.

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About Sam Trotter

Samuel Trotter is Director of Development and eCommerce for Boutique Hospitality Management. Trotter also writes for hotelnewsnow.com on how technology is impacting hotels, usually from an ecommerce perspective. Trotter came to know Keith Space from his time working for The Angler's Boutique Resort in South Beach. The property was hugely successful, jump starting his career. Trotter writes and speaks on eCommerce and hotel investment and is a major player of the BHM team. Continue the conversation with Trotter on Twitter @Sammy_Miami.